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diykestrel

Nocturnal Morning Glories?

We have some beautiful deep blue morning glories that came with the house we bought in 2002. They are definitely invasive but I have managed to keep them fairly under control.

This year I noticed that some of the vines are putting out flowers that are closer to a magenta color and these seem to last longer than the blues. Lately I've noticed that they are blooming all day and the other night I noticed some still wide open around 9 at night?

Is this a normal for cooler weather or just some random mutation? Should I be collecting these seeds and selling them to the highest bidder? lol

Makes me wonder what will happen next year.

Thanks,

Jim

Comments (9)

  • ultragirl6
    17 years ago

    I don' t have an answer but I am curious too so please answer Jim's question! I am fairly new to PA (since '02) and morning gloreis as well. Good to know that they are invasive here in z6 as want them to be! I'd much rather prefer they come back every year instead of haivng to replant them. They've looked gorgeous all summer along our deck railing. But I do have a question: is it worth getting the seeds from the ones that froze over the weekend? Will they grow next year? And if so, when should I plant them - now in the fall or in spring?

    Laura

  • Pipersville_Carol
    17 years ago

    Maybe the night-blooming morning glories are actually Moonflowers. I think they look similar to morning glories, but bloom at night.

  • luvsgrtdanes
    17 years ago

    Hi Jim, sounds like you have ipomoea nil. A Japanese type morning glory. (the common one) When it starts to get cool the pink pigment comes out. Mine are still in full bloom and open all day!! I love them.

    {{gwi:1111795}}

  • PRO
    Kestrel Shutters & Doors
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    That's them! I wonder why they didn't turn that pink color in the last years. maybe a combination of temperature and rain and other "stuff".

    In answer to your question Laura about when to plant the seeds; I've just let mine drop to the ground and they always come up each year. If I want to start some in a new section I have taken some of the pods during the winter and scattered them about. I do know that where they come up around other plants, especially tall ones like sunflowers and cannas, I have to go out every other day and untangle their choking vines .

    I have found a few strays as well of different colors and leaf shape. Not sure if they dropped from passing birds or if in my attempts to reshape some of the poor lanscaping from the last owners I uneathed some seeds.

    Thanks everyone,

    Jim

  • rhodyman
    17 years ago

    Bindweed (Convolvulus) is a member of the Morning Glory family (Convolvulaceae) as is Morning Glory (Ipomoea).

    Morning Glory is classed a noxious week in 46 states and a prohibited noxious week in Arizona. They spread through their roots. If you leave a root fragment, it is capable of producing a new plant. One of the few ways to kill it is with roundup which kills the roots.

    In PA, Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed) is classed an invasive noxious weed.

    Here is a link that might be useful: USDA - Ipomoea

  • earthlydelights
    17 years ago

    i'll grow this "weed" anytime. i totally fell in love with them this year. now, if i could only find the seeds.

    {{gwi:1111797}}

  • rhodyman
    17 years ago

    Try Clematis. It comes in many colors. There seem to be two distinct types of clematis. The most popular are the ones that bloom all summer and comes in many bright colors. The other is the fall blooming clematis such as Sweet Autumn Clematis (C. terniflora). Many are hardy to zones 3 or 4.
    {{gwi:1111799}}{{gwi:1111800}}{{gwi:1111801}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis, the Queen of climbers

  • Laura4
    17 years ago

    The morning glories pictured above are the cultivar 'heavenly blue'.

    I used to live in the southwest and "wild" purple morning glories are perennial there--that's why they're such a problem. I grew the cultivar 'heavenly blue' in California and it was a perfectly well-behaved annual which did not even come back from seeds or anything. I had to re-plant each year.

    So many plants are invasive in some climates and not in others. However, the invasive species listed on the link shown above are in no way the plant we are talking about here. They are cousins. Only related by taxonomy.

    I love 'heavenly blue' and have also seen the pink flowers you're talking about--last year, but not this year.

  • geoforce
    17 years ago

    There is a lovely pink one which is taking over the grassy area over the septic drain field at my beach place in Hatteras NC. A nuisance and a pest but oh so gorgeous to wake up in the morning and see thousands of these baby-pink 3-4" flowers spread out over the lawn with the dew sparkling on them. I believe it is a perennial one as well.

    Up here in PA, Convolvulus arvensis is truely a noxious one. Flowers are too small to be of particular beauty and stems strangle everything they touch. I wage a constant battle against them, as the birds drop the seed in the creeping juniper and other groundcovers, and it's tough to roundup them there.

    George

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